To meet the challenge

Our environmental problems are similar and we need to find solutions. How do we get all sectors of the city to strive for a common goal the sustainable development? - said Kari Porra, Head of Environmental Unit, Lahti.

The city of Lahti, Finland, hosted the third training session of the project Managing Urban Europe- 25 (MUE-25) in the end of September. Altogether 59 environmental experts from ten countries participated in the event, which was held during the Lahti Environmental Week.

The purpose of the MUE-25 training was to prepare 25 participating cities to meet the challenge of moving towards an integrated management system which is regarded as an essential part of advancing sustainability issues. Although the organizational structures in partner cities of MUE-25 are different there are fundamental similarities. "In Lahti, we are willing to learn from city networks and gather practical experience in this project" - said Kari Porra.

"If sustainable development was easy, we wouldn't need projects" - reminded Thomas Knowland, who represents in MUE-25 the city of Leeds, United Kingdom.

MUE-25 combines the best parts of the current environmental management systems with the intention to better serve the needs of the local governments. A vital part of the project is developing and implementing a management system that supports the introduction of social and economic aspects as well as environmental ones.

Thus, it enables cities to fulfill the 10 Aalborg commitments starting from good governance and local management system ending with global responsibilities.

MUE-25 includes 25 partner cities across Europe and the lead partner is the Union of the Baltic Cities Environment and Agenda 21 Secretariat. The project is part funded by the European Commission DG Environment, German Federal Environment Foundation, the German Federal States of Baden- Württemberg and Bayern and participating cities. The total budget is 2.9 MEUR.